In certain types of IC's, a driver circuit is needed for providing a high voltage signal. For example, in an electrically eraseable read-only memory (EEPROM), the erase, store, and write functions require a 25 volt signal, whereas the address and data signal functions only require a 5 volt signal.
Known driver circuits with typical static loads may be used with a 25 volt power source to provide a high voltage signal. However, the steady state current drawn from the 25 volt source may become excessive, particularly when a plurality of high voltage drivers are included on the same IC. The problem of excessive current consumption becomes particularly acute when the 25 volt power source is provided from a voltage multiplier on the same IC as the high voltage drivers. Since the high voltage multiplier often has limited capacity to supply output current, the total current required by a plurality of high voltage drivers may exceed the capacity of the high voltage multiplier.
In order to reduce current consumption, it is known to provide a high voltage driver circuit using dynamic clocking and a clocked load. However, such dynamic circuitry and the required system of clock timing signals tends to result in a more complex design requiring a larger circuit area as compared to a high voltage driver circuit using a static load.